Mum

Today marks 9 years since Mum passed away, for various reasons this year we haven't been able to get down to put flowers on her grave and I'm feeling a little lost for ways to mark the day. I would normally have gone to her gonetoosoon.org page but this has been closed down now. Apologies if this post doesn't read well and seems a little bit random but I hoped that writing it down might be cathartic. 

My mum was a very strong willed lady and very proud of her danish heritage and would take every opportunity to remind me to be strong because I'm 'part viking'. She would stand up for what she believed was right (even if it wasn't) and no one wanted to be on the wrong side of her, which at the time I used to find embarrassing but now amusingly I seem to be getting that reputation.

I have fond memories of Sundays growing up, Mum would cook the roast dinner (even though Dad was as chef, hers were always better) I vividly remember the sound of her beating the yorkshire pudding batter whilst I was playing the living room. Sunday lunch would be followed by a trip to our grandparents where the whole family would descend for a lovely family tea complete with my Nana's cakes and if we were lucky her æblekage (danish apple).

As I've lived in and around Sheffield since going to university in 2001 there was quite a distance between us but we would catch up most days whilst I walked home from work, I still miss those chats where we would put the world to rights.

Unfortunately Mum also suffered from depression and a terrible smoking habit which is what ultimately took her from us. Watching her go through this and the impact it has had on everyone around her has left me with a very strong anti-smoking stance, and determined that Chloe and Oliver don't experience anything like that, obviously I know it isn't all in my control, but if I can prevent it I will.

I've found becoming a mummy and watching the children grow particularly difficult without having her to turn to, I think this is natural as most girls would turn to their Mums at this time. As Chloe and Oliver grow I see more and more of her in them. Chloe is very strong willed and will fight for what she believes as right, and Oliver has a fierce temper which I expect will be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

I hope I'm becoming the strong woman Mum tried to raise me to be and that I can be the strong role model for Chloe and Oliver that she was for me when she was well.

Miss you Mum x

Not a bad January

So January is almost over, and as January's go this hasn't been a bad one. 

At the start of the month (and new year) I signed up to Weight Watchers (not for the first time) and I'm actually enjoying it. 

I've been tracking my food everyday, trying out different recipes, so far my favourite recipe has to be fluff, a lovely mix of sugar free jelly and fat free yoghurt.

Strawberry Fluff

I'm even following a new exercise routine, which for a girl who used to do everything to get out of school P.E. day is a big deal!

I'm already seeing some positive effects of the changes I've made. I have more energy and I'm finally tackling jobs around the house that I've been putting off. After watching Tidying Up with Maria Kondo I've started to apply her method to sorting my clothes, so far only to one drawer (I can't believe I'm posting a picture of my drawer on here, but I'm quite proud of it)..

My 'Kondo'd drawer!

This year is definitely going to be a year of change for me, normally my resolve on these things has faded by this point but I'm pleased to report I'm still going strong.

February is going to be a mixed month, with Mums birthday which is always difficult contrasted with a trip to Thomas Land to mark Oliver turning the big 3, so we'll see if it continues!

Bring on 2019!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone (I know its late but its not 12th night until tomorrow!), I hope you all had a good one, we certainly have.

Treats for Father Christmas

So 2019 has arrived and was even seen in by Chloe for the first time! It has brought with it lots of plans for the upcoming year, including Thomas Land, Disneyland and camping so far! Looking back over 2018 and it was a good year filled with lots of memory making with the kids.

This year will see Darrell and I celebrate 10 years married and 20 years together (hopefully!), we're still unsure how we're officially going to mark this but so far we have tickets to 4 of our favourite comedians booked (Dara O'Brien, Romesh Ranganathan, Tim Minchin and Eddie Izzard).

I'm determined to improve my fitness this year and shift some weight, I know this is a standard new year resolution but I'm really hoping I can stick to it, I may try and use this blog as a way of tracking my progress or just to vent when I'm finding things tough.

I'd also like to think this year may bring us a way to move into a bigger house but I think that really is wishful thinking, it's a good job we all get on!

What a Month!

October has been and gone, I realise I haven't written anything about the events of this month, mostly due to a lack of time.

The main event of this month was Dad getting remarried. This was a happy day, it was lovely to have all of my family together and to see Chloe being the prettiest little bridesmaid I've ever laid eyes on. 

Since the wedding I've been thinking more about Mum, about what she would make of everything and also how difficult it is being a Mummy without a Mum. 

Anyway that's enough of that....

Halloween has just happened, along with the kids biggest ever sugar crash (its resulted in me setting myself a reminder for next year so I don't have my expectations too high!). 

Now 36 is on the horizon, and before we know it the Christmas tree will be up! 

Crazy Times

Although not much has actually happened, the last couple of weeks have been crazy for us...

Chloe has settled well back into school, passed her stage 2 swimming and thrown herself into her dance classes with all her might, and after nearly two years Oliver has suddenly started enjoying nursery, and we've booked another break to Disneyland Paris with some of our closest friends (eeek!). 

On the other hand someone helped themselves to the lead roofing from our bay window, which we only realised during a downpour when it started raining in the window too!

I know this is a petty crime in the grand scheme of things but it still has ramifications for us, we now have to spend the best part of £300 to re-roof the window and spend the weekend knowing that a large storm is due to hit with the anxiety that the only thing keeping the rain out of our living room is some tarpaulin (kindly lent to us by one of Darrell's friends).

I have been through a range of emotions on this, mostly anger that anyone can think it OK to come onto someones property and help themselves to part of it, but also fear as to what could have happened if it was a day when me and Oliver were at home, or if we hadn't been in when the first downpour happened.

Fingers crossed we survive Storm Brian!

London

Before we decided that camping was the thing to try this summer (see previous post) we booked a trip down to London in the middle of the summer holidays break up the school holidays, take in the sights and visit family.

We spent three nights at the Premier Inn in Sidcup, so we were close enough to see family but also close to all the transport links to get into the sights easily.

The first day was spent travelling down, and we stopped off in Stamford to show Chloe and Oliver some more of where I grew up (I like to try and show them as many of my childhood places as possible as I sometimes feel quite disconnected from my family living so far from 'home'). Strangely Chloe really enjoyed Stamford market and was reluctant when we told her we had to carry on the journey to London.

The second day was spent taking in as many of the sights as possible, and we walked Chloe until her little legs couldn't walk anymore, finishing the day on the London Eye. 

The real Buckingham Palace

Westminster Abbey

The highlights of the sights were Buckingham Palace (the Queen was in residence - this completely blew Chloe's mind and we're pretty sure the Queen saw her through the window), Westminster Abbey, The Houses of Parliament (Chloe was very disappointed that Big Ben was covered in scaffolding) and Trafalgar Square where we met a floating Yoda.

The London Eye

The following day we went to the Science Museum where Oliver was turned into a duck and Chloe did some very cool experiments in the Wonderlab.

A very proud little duck

Learning about clouds

We then ventured onto Hamleys and Chloe and Oliver both got to meet some Lego figures and were faced with  the very difficult and painful decision of what to spend their pocket money on (this may have been a little cruel in such a big shop).

Lego soldier

Meeting the Queen

Camping

This summer we decided we wanted to keep within a tighter budget, and so we thought we would test the waters with camping, fully expecting one of us to not enjoy it.

We kitted ourselves out with an Urban Escape Vis a Vis 6 man tent, and some air beds and took ourselves off an hour down the road to a campsite in the peak district for one night.

All set up on our first camping trip

Needless to say once the stress of getting the tent up without looking like idiots or losing the kids, we settled into our first camping trip and immediately wished we'd booked for longer.

On returning home we began our research into other campsites, and booked into another site this time on the coast near Filey for a longer break. 

Pitched up in Filey

Once again we all loved our camping break, and there are now talks of more trips next year.

Now we're trying to settle back into the school routine, but the one thing we can take away from this summer is a renewed love of the outdoors, oh and a cellar full of camping equipment!